Firearm



Jan. 11, 1944. l

H. F. Iy/losslalsms FIREARM Filed April 3, 1940 ZSheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYPatented Jan. 11, 1944 I UNITED sAss FIREARM Application April 3, 1940,Serial No. 327,591

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in rearms and more particularlyto improvements in the loading and ring means, or actions, of relativelysmall calibre firearms.

Certain of the features and principles of this invention are adapted foruse in rearms of the automatic type wherein the bolt is automaticallyretracted by the recoil caused by firing a cartrid-ge, to automaticallyeject the empty shell, and to set the action into subsequent firingcondition. These, with other features, are especially adapted for use inguns, such as a single shot automatic riiie, wherein only one cartridgeis inserted at a time, and in accordance with the features of thisinvention the action is automatically set in firing condition, ej ectsthe empty shell, and has its parts positioned whereby a fresh cartridgemay be .readily inserted into the chamber.

One object of this invention is to provide in a firearm of the abovetype, a recoil actuated bolt adapted to cooperate with a swingableloading platform to insure that the latter is in fully closed positionwhen the firearm is fired.

Still another object of this invention is to provide means to catch thebolt, of a bolt action firearm, as it is retracted by the recoil toprevent the firearm being accidentally fired before it has again beenproperly loaded.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved formof firearm which will be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, simple-in construction, of pleasing appearance, and which is very eiiicientand durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, there has been illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings one form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied inpractice.

In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like partsthroughout the several v1ews:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a small calibre firearm embodyingthe features and principles of this invention; Figure 2 is anenlargedside elevational view of .the receiver, trigger, and a portion of thebarrel, removed from the firearm shown in Figure 1, with the partsassociated therewith;

Figure 3 is a rear end View of the parts shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a broken sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 4;

Figures 6, '7, and 8 are longitudinal sectional views through thereceiver showing the action in three different operative positions;

Figure 9 is a broken sectional view showing the bolt locking means inoperative position; and4 Figure 1G yis a cross-sectional view taken onthe line Iii- Iii of Figure 9.

The firearm selected to illustrate the features and principles of thisinvention comprises a combined stock and forearm Il), II respectively, atrigger guard I2, a barrel I 3, which is secured into the forward end ofa hollow cylindrical receiver i4 and with it is releasably secured tothe forearm Il by the usual take-down screw I5, which is screw-threadedinto a post IS, fastened to and extending downwardly from the receiverI4. Suitable sights I'l and I8 may be provided and these are mountedrespectively upon the front and rear ends of the barrel I3. A suitablevertically disposed slot i9 is provided, in this instance, in theforearm II leading from the bottom of the forearm upwardly to theunderside of the receiver Hi, through which ejected shells may fall. Thebarrel I3, as is usual, has a chamber 2| at its breech end 22 to receivea cartridge 23 which, in this instance, is slid into the chamber 2l froma loading platform 24.

The loading platform 24 is disposed in an opening 25 formed in the upperforward section of the receiver I4 -and is hinged, at its rear end, tothe receiver Id by a transverse pin 26. VThe forward portion 21 of theplatform is considerably thicker than the wall of the receiver I4 andextends downwardly into its bore 28 and has, at this point, a flatsurface 29. A short tongueV 3l extends beyond the front end of theforward portion 2l, of the platform 24, to underlie the wall of thereceiver Ill to form a stop, to prevent the platform 2B swingingupwardly out of the opening 25. The platform, at its outer, or top,slurface is curved, the curvature preferably being the same as that ofthe periphery of the receiver I4. A shallow groove 32, arcuate incross-sec'- tion, is provided in the top surface of the .platform 24 inwhich a cartridge 23 may berplaced in preparation for loading it intothe gun. The forward end of the groove 32 curves slightly upwardly atthe forward end 21 of the platform 24 to assist in aligning thecartridge with, and in guiding it into, the chamber 2l. j

The platform 24 is adapted to be swung inwardly into the bore 28 of the.receiver -I4v,'as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5, to present theupwardly curved forward end 33 of the groove 32 in line with the chamber2i, by pressure applied thereto through a cartridge held the 58, '6I forthis purpose.

users fingers, to overcome the tension of a spring 34, which springtends to maintain the platform 24 upwardly into the opening 25 to closeit. The spring 35i, in this instance, is coiled about the pivot pin 25with one of its ends, 35, extending rearwardly from the pin 26 to engagethe underside of the receiver wall to the rear of the pin 26. ATheforward end portion 35, lof the kspring 34, is extended forwardly toengage the underside of the platform 2551 within a longitudinal groove31 formed therein along the entire length of its forward portion 21. Thespring end portion 36 is extended forwardly beneath the portion 21 ofthe platform 2li and is bent downwardly to dispose its end 38 directlyto the rear of the chamber ZI, in the barrel I3, andtherefore in back ofthe rear end of a .cartridge .23 in said chamber 2i to prevent thecartridge accidentally dropping out of said chamber. When the platform2li is in depressed position, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5, thespring end portion 36 is adapted to be received inthe groove 31.

The cartridge 23, when 'in the chamber 2L is adapted to be engaged andfired by a cylindrical combined bolt and ring pin 40, `the forward endof the bolt being counterbored, as at 4I, to receive the primer head "42ofthe cartridge 25, and having a primer striking lug'dS protrudingtherefrom disposed in position vto strike the head i2 and fire thecartridge. A cartridge shell extractor finger 44 i5 securedto the bolt dby a screw 5 and extends forwardly along the bolt in a groove 46provided therefor. A hooked end l1 on the nger 44 is adapted to snapunder the head i2 of the cartridge shellto draw it out of the chamber'2l when the 'bolt 40 is retracted and to permit it to drop through anopening i8 formed in the receiver `III,which opening i8 is in line withthe opening IBprovided in the forearm I I. A iiat surface 4S, formed onthe periphery of the bolt 40, by cutting out a portion thereof, isprovided at the top forward portion of the bolt '55 to slidingly engagethe flat underside surface 29 of the platform 24 'when the bolt is inforward position inthe .receiver Iii, to securely lock the platform upinto `the opening 25 to securely close and seal it. yIn'this instance,the spring end 35 is also forced yupwardly by the bolt lill into thegroove 31.

The bolt '53 is constantly under 'thetension of a coiled spring 45Iwhich is disposedina bore 52 provided in the rear end of the bolt lill(for this purpose. The spring i extends out ofthe bore 52 and about arod 53 extending forwardly from a removable plug 56 disposed in the'rear end of the receiver I3. The spring 5I constantly reacts betweenthe plug 511 and the bottom vof the bore 52 in the bolt dil to urge thebolt forwardly. The plug 5d is provided with diametrically oppositeoutwardly extending lugs 55 and 56, adapted to enter slots 51 and 58respectively provided in the rear end of the receiver III, and to berotated with the plug 54 to dispose `them in forwardly facing slots 53and 6l in the receiver, to lock the plugr 55 thereto, peripherallyformed slots 62 connecting the slots 51, 59 and One of the slots 51, 58,in this instance, slot 53, is extended forwardly in the receiver Ill toreceive and guide the/shank 63 of a screw 5t, screw-threaded into theside of the bolt d adjacent its rear end (see Figures 9 and 10). Athumb, or finger, engaging knurled .sleeve 65 is rotatably mounted'onthe screw yE511, v'the head t@ ofthescrew-lying-'in a counterbore 61 inthe sleeve 65 to prevent the sleeve slipping therefrom. The counterbore51 is of sufficient depth to permit the sleeve 55 the required amount ofsliding movement, axially on the screw 64, to permit its inner end @E toenter a circular enlargement 69 of the slot 53. The position of thecircular enlargement 89 in respect to the Vbolt 40 is such that,when-the bolt 4G is substantially in its fully retracted position, theinner sleeve end 68 may be readily entered therein to lock the bolt 40in such fully retracted position.

The bolt 45, in this instance, is provided upon its bottom'surface witha sear shoulder 1I and a catch shoulder 12, the former being spacedforwardlyfrom the latter, which latter one, 12, is

formed in the bolt 40 adjacent its rear end. A trigger 13 is provided,and has a linger engaging portion 14 which is extended downwardly intoan Yopening 15 provided in the trigger guard I2 for this purpose Thetrigger 1S is pivoted to the Areceiver I4 by a transverse pin 15, andhas an integral arm 11 extending forwardly of the pivot pin 16. A searhook 13 is provided on the forward end of the arm 11, and is adapted toengage the sear `shoulder 1I to releasab-y hold the bolt 40 in retractedfiring position. Atransverse pin 19 extending 'through the arm 11liniits the upward swinging movement of lthe seai- Vhook 18, which isconstantly under the urge =o`f tridge, by pressingvrearwardly upon thetrigger v finger portion 1li to release the sear hook from the searshoulder 1 I, the recoil action of the-explosion automatically retract-sthe bolt Il@ to a rearward position in the receiver ill. This action isextremely rapid and, should the trigger finger -portion 14 not bereleased by the users iin- Vger as soon as pressed, the bolt it willagain move forwardly to no avail, as no cartridge'i' is in firingposition in the chamber 2i. 'In such an instance no recoil action wouldtake placeand the bolt would have to be retracted into rirrg position byhand. To obviate this possibility, -a catch is provided to automaticallycatch the bolt 43 when it reaches its full recoil retractedYposition,-as shown-in Figure '1, after a cartridge is fired.

The catch 85, in this instance, is in the fom: of

an inverted U-shapedfmember, having a horizontally disposed topportion-35 from which depend 4side-arms 31 andv 88 which str-addle the trigger13. The catch S5 is pivoted to the 'trigger -13`by a transverse pin 89,which passes through the lower ends/of the arms 31 and 53 adjacent thelower front edge Sii of the catch 85. .A spring pressed plunger 9|carried by the trigger 113 vand urgedfupwardly by a spring 32isdisposed-ina hole 93 provided in the upper surface of thetrigger'13, andengages the underside of the top portion 85 of the catch'B5 to urge thefrontupper edge 94 of .the` catch 85into engagementwith a rearwardlyfacing shoulder $5 provided on-the `trigger 13 for this purpose.

When the bolt 40 is rapidly retractedmb,7 `the recoil action from itsforward position, shown in Figure 6, it will freely slide past theA`sear hook l'pressed bythe users nger. llie bolt 4B will, therefore,"continuev further rearwardly past the catch 85, by depressing it againstthe action of the plunger 9 l ,'until thecatch shoulder 'l2 passes therear edge B of the top portion 86 of the catch ,85,whereupon the latterwill snap in front of the catch shoulder 12 and prevent a return forward'movement of the bolt 4B. -When the trigger 'i3 is released it will beswung forwardly by the plunger 8 I ,whereby the sear hook 'I8 will snapin iront of the "sear shoulder ll. During this'forward swinging movementof the trigger 13 under the urge of the plunger Si, the front upper edge94 of the catch 85 is engaged by the rearwardly facing shoulder 95 onthe trigger i3 to swing the catch 85 with the trigger and release thecatch l85 from the `catch shoulder 12, kas indicated in Figure B.This'will result inthe bolt 4i) moving slightly forwardly, whereby thesear hook 78 will engage the sear shoulder 'Il and the action will againbe .pla'cedin operative firing position. In order to insure this result,the spacing between the sear hook 'i3 and the rear edge 95 of the topportion 86 of the catch 85 is slightly greater than the spacing betweenthe sear shoulder 'll ard the catch shoulder 'I2 formed on the boltlli).

Briefly, the operation of the rearm, embodying the features andprinciples of this invention as above described, is as follows, assumingthat the parts of the action thereof are in the positions shown inFigure 6, but that no cartridge 23 is in the chamber 2 i, this being thenormal position of the parts of the action when the firearm is not inuse. 'Io prepare the firearm for use, the knurled sleeve 55 is graspedand by it the bolt di] may be retracted into either of two positions. Ifthe rearm is not to be immediately fired but is to be carried loaded,the bolt 4B is fully retracted and the inner end 68 of the sleeve B issnapped into the circular enlargement 59 of the slot 58, as shown inFigure and is indicated by dotted lines in Figure 9. This is the safetylocked position, from which, the action can be readily unlocked bywithdrawing the inner end 68 from the circular enlargement 69, whereuponthe sear hook 'i8 will catch the bolt against the sear shoulder 1l.

If the firearm is to be immediately used, the bolt lli) is retractedonly sufficiently to permit the sear hook 'le to snap in front of thesear shoulder 1I. When the bolt d is in either of these positions theloading platform 2li is free to be depressed against the tension of thespring 3d to dispose a cartridge 23 into the chamber 2l from the shallowgroove 32 in its top surface. When depressed, as shown in dotted linesin Figure 5, the forward curved portion 33 of the groove 32 issubstantially in alignment with the chamber 2l and the cartridge 23 isguided thereby as it is pushed into this chamber. After a cartridge 23has been inserted into the chamber 2l the platform 24 is releasedwhereupon it is swung upwardly by the spring 34 to close the opening 25in the receiver lll. When the platform 2d is in position to close theopening 25, the spring end 30 is disposed in alignment with the primerhead 42 of the cartridge and lies closely adjacent thereto to preventthe cartridge falling from the chamber 2|.

When the trigger 13 is pulled, the sear hook 18 is released from thesear shoulder 'H and the bolt D is forced forwardly by the spring 5l tofire the cartridge. In its travel forwardly the bolt 4i! rides under theplatform 24 and its at surface 49 slides along the at undersurface 29 ofthe platform, whereupon the platform is seourely pressed 11D and lockedinto the opening 25 to seal it closed. At the same time the spring endportion 36 is pressed upwardly out of the way into the groove'3l. Whenthe cartridge is red the recoil, acting upon the bolt All, forces itbackwardly into retracted position and at the same time the empty shellis ejected through the opening 48, see Figure 7. This action issubstantially instantaneous and most always takes place before the usersfinger has released the trigger 13 and permitted the sear hook 'H8 to bedisposed in sear shoulder, ll, engaging position. In such instances, thecatch engages the catch shoulder V'i2 to hold the bolt @il in retractedposition, as shown in Figure 7, until the trigger 'I3 is released.Release of the trigger 'f3 releases the catch 85 from the shoulder l2and simultaneously disposes the sear hook 18 in position to engage thescar shoulder "ll, as illustrated in Figure 8. A new cartridge may nowbe inserted into the chamber 2i andthe above sequence of automaticoperations again started by pulling on the trigger finger piece 14.

While there has been shown and described herein, one form of an improvedrearm, it is to be understood that the invention may be embodied inother forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributesthereof. It is therefore desired that the present embodiment beconsidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and itwill be further understood that each and every novel feature andcombination thereof, present in, or possessed by, the improved firearmherein disclosed, forms a part of the invention included in thisapplication.

What is claimed and new and for which it is desired to secure LettersPatent, is:

1. In a firearm, a tubular receiver having a slot through its wall andextending axially thereof, a bolt slidable in said receiver and havingforwardly directed catch shoulders in line With the slot in the receiverand being spaced apart axially thereof, a trigger member disposed in theslot in the receiver and pivoted to the wall thereof, a forwardlydirected extension on said trigger member and having a catch end adaptedto catch on the forward shoulder on said bolt, a spring reacting betweenthe rear portion of the trigger member and the receiver to urge theextension toward the bolt, a rearwardly directed shoulder on saidtrigger member adjacent the receiver, a catch member pivoted to thetrigger member below the receiver and having a forward edge adapted toengage the shoulder thereon, spring means reacting between the catchmember and the trigger member to urge the forward edge of the catchmember toward the shoulder on the trigger member, and a rearwardlydirected edge on the catch member adapted to catch on the rearwardshoulder on said bolt.

2. In a firearm, a tubular receiver having a slot through its wall andextending axially thereof, a bolt slidable in said receiver and havingforwardly directed catch shoulders in line with the slot in the receiverand being spaced apart axially thereof, a trigger member disposed in theslot in the receiver and pivoted to the Wall thereof, a forwardlydirected extension on said trigger member and having a catch end adaptedto catch on the forward shoulder on said bolt, a spring reacting betweenthe rear portion of the trigger member and the receiver to urge theextension toward the bolt, a rearwardly directed shoulder on saidtrigger member adjacent the receiver, a catch member inverted U-shapedin cross-section straddling said trigger member-and being pivotedthereto below the receiver and having a forward edge adapted to engage'the shoulder thereon, spring means reacting between the catch memberand the trigger member to urge the forward edge of the catch member t0-ward the shoulder on the trigger member, and a rearwardly directed edgeon the catch member adapted to catch on the rearward shoulder on saidbolt.

3. In a irearm, a tubular receiver having a slot through its wall andextending axially thereof, a bolt slidable in said receiver and havingforwardly directed catch shoulders in line with the slot in the receiverand being spaced apart axially thereof, a trigger member disposed in theslot in the receiver and pivoted to the wall thereof, a forwardlydirected extension on said trigger member and having a catch end adaptedto catch on the forward shoulder on said bolt,

a rearwardly directed portion on said Y'trigger member extending undersaid receiver, a spring reacting between the rearwardly directed portionof the trigger member and the receiver to urge the extension toward thebolt, a rearwardly directed shoulderfon said trigger member adjacent thereceiver, a catch member inverted U-shaped in cross-section straddlingsaid trigger member intermediate the trigger member extension and itsrearwardly directed portion, and being pivoted thereto below thereceiver and having a forward edge adapted to engage the shoulderthereon, spring Ameans reacting between the catch member and the triggermember to urge the forward edge of the catch member toward the shoulderon the trigger member, a rearwardly directed edge on the catch memberadapted to catch on the rearward shoulder on said bolt, and means tovlimit the upward movement of vthe trigger member extension toward saidbolt.

HAROLD F. MOSSBERG. Y

